Music Examinations in India

The Associated Board of the Royal School of Music (ABRSM) and Trinity College are the major two music examination boards based in London, United Kingdom, which offer graded and diploma qualifications on music and performing arts. The London College of Music Examination (LCME) is also a well-established exam board for the creative arts in the UK and many other countries including India. In this article, we will be discussing ABRSM, LCME and Trinity College, the three leading music assessment boards offering music examinations for students in India for quite a few decades now. Since the pandemic has hit the world, these boards have begun to offer online exams too. At ABRSM, they call it the Performance Grades exams. ABRSM Performance Grades are available at Grades 1 to 8 for a wide range of instrumental and singing subjects, plus an Initial Grade for Piano and Bowed Strings. This digital exam is assessed from a video recording and is all about performance.

ABRSM & Trinity College both are equally reputable in India, however, in some cities, ABRSM is the first choice and in some Trinity College is. In big metro cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, and Mumbai both boards have their set of admirers. Mainly, this depends on the private music teachers and music schools. The value of the Certificate from both boards is equally acknowledged all over the globe. So with the LCME.

The ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) is an examination board and registered charity based in the United Kingdom. ABRSM is one of five examination boards accredited by Ofqual to award graded exams and diploma qualifications in music within the UK’s National Qualifications Framework (along with the London College of Music, RSL Awards (Rockschool Ltd), Trinity College London, and the Music Teachers’ Board). ‘The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music’ was established in 1889 and rebranded as ABRSM in 2009.[4] The clarifying strapline “the exam board of the Royal Schools of Music” was introduced in 2012.

Trinity College London offers graded musical qualifications for musical theory and for performance in a range of string instruments, singing, piano, electronic keyboards, brass, woodwind instruments, and percussions. The grading begins with the Initial Grade and then are numbered from Grade 1 to Grade 8 in increasing difficulty. Candidates are rated under three categories – the performance of musical pieces, technical work such as scales, and supporting tests such as sight reading and improvisation. Candidates are graded on a scale from 1 to 100, with 60 being the pass mark. Candidates have some flexibility in the choices of pieces and tests prepared for each of these sections. In addition to graded examinations, TCL also offers foundation, intermediate and advanced certificates in music. TCL also offers diplomas in music at three levels – Associate (ATCL, which is equivalent to the standard of work required for a UK Certificate of Higher Education) and AmusTCL, Licentiate (LTCL, which is equivalent to the standard of work required for a UK Bachelor’s degree) and Fellowship (FTCL, which is equivalent to the standard of work required for a UK Master’s degree). In 2012, the exam board introduced Rock & Pop graded examinations for bass, drums, guitar, keyboard and vocals.

London College of Music Examinations (LCM Examinations) is an examinations board offering graded and diploma qualifications in music, and in drama & communication. The board is a department of the London College of Music (LCM), a school within the University of West London. LCM Examinations was founded as the external examinations department of the London College of Music (LCM), a music conservatoire that was founded in 1887. In 1991, the LCM and its external examinations board became part of the Polytechnic of West London (which became Thames Valley University in 1992 and was renamed the University of West London in 2011). LCM Examinations is one of four examination boards in the United Kingdom accredited by Ofqual to award graded and diploma qualifications in music as part of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (along with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Trinity College London and Rockschool). It is also one of four boards accredited to award qualifications in speech and drama (along with Trinity College London, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the English Speaking Board). The mapping of LCM Examinations onto the QCF means that candidates applying to UK universities through the UCAS system can increase their points tariff if they have been awarded a Pass or higher at grades 6–8 in accredited subjects. In addition to its work throughout the UK and Ireland, LCM Examinations has a significant international operation, particularly in South-East Asia.

These international examinations hold great value to assess your music learning progress, also, can be quite useful for students who wish to apply for colleges in the US, UK etc. in the future, as the Certificates can be used for supporting the application, however, it should be noted that there is no guarantee on the same ever announced by the respective boards.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, many renowned music educators around the world have come up with online academies and offering one-on-one lessons, Maestro Michael Michael Makhal from India, who was already developing www.musiclesson.in website since 2018 in order to offer music lessons to learners in every corner of India and also, to the interested students around the world, launched www.musiclesson.in in early 2020, which quickly became a well-admired brand for offering high standard music lessons by well-qualified music teachers from India to serious learners. The online academy with a team of amazing music teachers has been teaching a number of student Piano and other musical instruments and singing for close to three years to students in India, the US, the UK, Europe, Australia, and many other regions with great success. Recently, quite a few of the students appeared for the Children’s Day 2022 celebration – a virtual performance on the MusicLesson.In Facebook Page. The performance pieces included deep western classical work like Beethoven’s Fur Elise as well as famous Children’s Piano compositions by legendary composers. It is found that more than the teaching medium the teacher makes the difference. Offline lessons are amazing, no doubt, however, in case one doesn’t have a good teacher nearby, online lessons can be very helpful and useful for them. Well-qualified and experienced teachers can make one-on-one online piano and keyboard lessons really effective and positively impactful for students of all ages and levels.

The online music academy MusicLesson.In is of high repute from India, if you wish to learn the Violin or Piano, Guitar, Singing, and Music Theory under a well-qualified teacher click on the instruments below for more details: